Saturday, 29 December 2007

Home again

I hope you all had a very happy christmas! We had a lovely time staying with my parents in Durham with lots of other family groups coming and going and coming and going! It was noisy, busy and fun and the children had the most fantastic time playing with their wonderful cousins! The food was delicious and very plentiful (as was the wine!) and all the christmas traditions were happily kept.Such as the tray of goodies left out for Father Christmas

And the reply received! This year the reindeer even left traces of the oats they had found in the garden in the bowl of water!

We have a traditional family recipe for Christmas trifle and it always has to be made on Christmas Eve with real egg custard (pints and pints of it!) and then the cream and decoration added on Boxing Day in time for tea. When I was a child I used to love sticking my fingers in the hot custard to push the biscuits down - in recent years it has been my job to make the custard and let the children do the biscuit pushing!We always have good fun decorating them with crushed crystalised rose petals and chopped pistachio nuts - I cheated this year and used a duck shaped cutter (there were two other trifles - big family!)Ally had made a gingerbread house and Dorothy and her cousin Emma decorated it. All the children loved it and it was quickly demolished!The children all loved their presents and we seem to have a new budding musician:We came home last night and have very naughtily taken down our Christmas tree already! After the space and tidiness of Mum and Dad's home our house always feels so untidy and crowded and there was nowhere for the children to put or play with all their new things! We may be humbugs, but at least we are humbugs with room to move!

Looking forward to Robin Hood tonight to get some more knitting done - I'll show you what I have made so far in the next post!

oh yummy, i love trifle! i'm ashamed to admit that, as much as i enjoy christmas, once the day is over, i can't wait to take the decorations down. ours usually last until new years day, then it all goes. i much prefer putting everything up early and having the excitement of the run up to it all.

Hi Locket! It's great to be back in the 'real' world!!! Looks like you had a great time. V posh trifles there madam. Rather yummy looking gingerbread too and most professionally decorated :)Fred looks very much at home with his uke - is it great or is it very slightly driving you mad yet?

If I can bear it I've been informed our tree is to stay up 'til twelfth night - we'll see!love Moogsmum xxx

That trifle looks divine and I love what you did with the pistachios. Our tree has to stay up until twelfth night, family tradition, although we are going away for a few days on the 2nd so I may have to take it down before we go or risk being late!

Sounds like you had a great Christmas. One year when children were small we left a trail of raisin which at a glance look very much like reindeer poo - it fooled them. We always left biscuits, milk and a carrot. That looks like a seriously noisy present Fred has there!!

Welcome home Lucy - I've missed you these last few days. Sounds like you had lots of fun with your extended family and lots of traditions. I'm still yet to see my family for Christmas as it was my husbands family turn this year, and they live at opposite ends of the state. I'm enjoying being at home and just being ON HOLIDAYS!